You should keep the grade lists, should a student challenge a grade. With regard to final exams, Berkeley Division Regulation A251 reads, "It is the responsibility of instructors and/or departments to return to the students their final examinations or copies of them, or to retain their students’ final examinations or copies of them, for a period of 13 months after the dates of such examinations. In the latter case, it is also their responsibility to provide a student access to his or her final examination under the supervision of the instructor or his or her designee. A student has the right to pay for and retain a photocopy of her/her examination."

It is also worthwhile to save your reading list, course description, syllabus, lecture notes, and handouts. These materials will come in handy when you are planning to teach the course again, and can be valuable when you come up for reappointment, merit increase, mid-career appraisal, or promotion to tenure. During each of these review processes, you will be asked to present evidence of your abilities and accomplishments as an instructor.

last updated on 3/15/07